A segment from the official transcript of Alexander Phillips’ recorded interviews with Caroline Galloway, Marcus Galloway’s widow and member of the Chamber of Marcus.Caroline Galloway --- Atma 17, 1884

Interviewer: Alexander PhillipsCopy 1 of 1

Alexander Phillips: Thank you for meeting with me.

Caroline Galloway: Of course.

AP: As you know, I want to clarify a few misconceptions about Marcus Galloway and Kerry McNair, but feel free to stop the interview at any moment. I imagine some of these questions might bring up unpleasant memories.

CG: I’ll be fine.

AP: Now, you were Kerry’s sister?

CG: He was my older brother.

AP: And you were seeing Marcus during the Killer-Shivian War?

CG: Yes, and we were married in 1846. It was a small and quiet wedding, for many reasons.

AP: And you were married previously?

CG: Yes, my first husband was also a member of the Ilkhatal Freedom Movement. He was killed during a fire fight with the Shivian police in 1824.

AP: Your family suffered quite a bit of lost at the hands of the IFM, and yet, you remained loyal to them.

CG: We understood the cost of freedom.

AP: Were you ever a member of the IFM or the KLA?

CG: No, but I helped anyway I could. And, sometimes, my sons served as messengers, but that was very rare.

AP: My own research suggests that Kerry joined the IFM in 1818, is that correct?

CG: It was earlier than that. I don’t know the exact date, but it must have been 1814/1815.

AP: He would have been thirteen.

CG: That’s correct. He was a runner back then, mostly for Marcus. I understand that’s how they became friends.

AP: Was it normal for the IFM to recruit children?

CG: The fight for freedom isn’t bounded by age. They took in anyone who wanted to help.

AP: Was Kerry exceedingly patriotic?

CG: No, not really, but it was not easy for us as children. I imagine Kerry was hungry for change. Many of us were at the time.

AP: Still, terrorism is an extreme method of change.

CG: Not for us. I don’t know why Kerry joined the IFM. He never shared his reasoning with me. He wasn’t an extremist, but we didn’t have any other viable path for change, Mr. Phillips. We couldn’t vote, we couldn’t protest, we didn’t have our own press. How else were we supposed to get the Shivian government to listen? For Kerry, I believe joining the IFM was the most pragmatic decision he could have made, given what we wanted and the circumstances we found ourselves in.

AP: Did you agree with his decision?

CG: At the time? No. Now? I don’t know. I like to think it all could have been avoided, but I don’t know what else we could have done. My brother was a practical Killer and, so, I assume he would never have joined the IFM without a sense of success. Maybe his initial support was out of anger, but when he and Marcus took over it wasn’t out of an aggressive impulse. It was a cold and calculated decision and that’s my brother. I love him, but he was a cold and calculating Killer.

AP: And Marcus wasn’t?

CG: Marcus was fire incarnate. My brother never had faith and so his approach was scientific and deliberate, but Marcus was a zealot and everything he did burned with the wrath of our Lord. That was why they worked well together. They were polar opposites who could balance each other out when needed.

AP: When did you first meet Marcus?

CG: It was 1817, I believe, right after my wedding. He and Kerry needed a place to hide, so they used our basement.

AP: What was your first impression of him?

CG: He was intense and angry, but he was always gentle around me. He could be intimidating, but I knew he would never hurt me.

AP: Did you ever blame him for recruiting Kerry into the IFM?

CG: No, because I knew my brother’s decision was his own. No one could ever get Kerry to do something he didn’t want to do.

AP: Did you ever blame him for recruiting your first husband?

CG: No, I believed in a free Killbraugha and I was willing to pay the price for it.

AP: Bernard Griffin was transferred to the Killbraugha in 1823 and implemented a restrictive regime. What was it like being a Killerette during that time? Did the IFM offer any kind of support?

CG: It was difficult. Meat was always scarce and it was never truly safe to leave the house. We were constantly searched by Shivian officials and many Killers would disappear in the night. The IFM did what they could to protect our homes and they were successful in some areas. The IFM didn’t support me personally, but Marcus and Kerry visited often to make sure the children and I were safe.

AP: Once Marcus and Kerry took over the IFM, they implemented a policy of retribution and widespread bombing campaigns. How was that received amongst the populace?

CG: I disagreed with their methods, but understood they were necessary. The general populace was torn, I would say. Some believed they were doing the right thing. Others believed they were making life harder for us, which they were, but only in the short term. In the aggregate, I believe that they did a lot more than the KLA to achieve our freedom.

AP: The KLA and IFM have a tumultuous history. How much of that, do you believe, was driven by Marcus and Kerry and how much by Kingsley?

CG: It was all Kingsley. Marcus and Kerry had a system here that worked and they were willing to take risks, Kingsley wasn’t and he was jealous.

AP: My research suggests that Kerry was against uniting with the KLA.

CG: Yes, that is correct. It was Marcus’ idea, believing that a unified front would be more effective against the Shivians.

AP: He wasn’t wrong.

CG: Depends on how you look at it.

AP: The Shivians, and Kingsley partially agrees, have always claimed that Marcus and Kerry were against compromising. Is that true?

CG: There were key issues that all Ilkhatal would never compromise on. Marcus, more so than Kerry, was against compromising on principle, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t have been pursued. The problem was the credibility of the Shivian government. Our people have compromised with them before and have always been betrayed. I believe that if the Shivians could have proven their good faith, Kerry and Marcus would have been more amendable.

AP: Was it ever considered that the IFM’s methods made it impossible for the Shivians to extend any kind of olive branch?

CG: No, partially because it wasn’t wanted. By the time, Marcus and Kerry took over, it was freedom or nothing.

AP: And yet you claim they was a scenario in which they would have been willing to compromise.

CG: I always said there were key issues that they would never compromise on, the status of the Killbraugha being one of them. I believe the KLA was the same way.

AP: You seem very supportive of the IFM’s efforts, despite your loss. How much of that is sincere and how much of that is because you feel the need to protect your brother’s and husband’s reputation?

CG: I wasn’t aware their reputation needed protecting.

AP: No regrets then?

CG: No. We did what we had to and what we believed was the right thing to do. I believe everyone wishes it could have been avoided, but we made the best decisions we could, given the circumstances.